Car-seal.



A. L. STANFORD.

GAR SEAL. APPLICATION FILED. MAY 20, 1910.\ 989,438, v v Patented A111111, 1911.

l 1 we 1 Tm: NoRRls Firmas co.. wAsmNarcm-D. c,

ARTHUR L. S'.l.".5.1\TliOItlD,` 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CARFSEAL.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

Application mea May 2o, 1910. serial No. 562,393.

To all 'whom t may concern:

'Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. STANFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Seals, of which the following is a specication.

The car seal of the present invention relates to that type ordinarily used on freight cars and the like, and is afHxed to the lock upon the door thereof, and serves as a means to detect when the lock has been tampered with.

The objectsV of the present invention are, to produce a seal which will be easy of application and removal without the use of any specially designed implement therefor; which will present a surface of sufficient area to receive figures or symbols; when positioned, will be held in a secure and permanent manner and will not be displaced by the movement of the car or through any rough handling which it might receive during ordinary usage; which is capable of being applied in a minimum space of time; which will not require any undue amount of force to effect the application thereof; which will not have any portion thereof attached to the car in a permanent manner; which will require no change in the ordinary lock used on the car door in order to apply the device; and which cannot be removed without being destroyed and rendered unfit for further use. This destruction can be effected in a minimum amount of time and without the use of any special tool.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view showing the seal in operative position; Fig. 2, a perspective showing one end of a headed wire inserted within the seal body and the other end of the wire extending out therefrom; Fig. 3, a face view of the interior of one section of the seal; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section of the completed seal before the wire is inserted therein; Fig. .5, a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a wire partially inserted therein; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section of the parts shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a wire fully inserted in position; Fig. 8, a longitudinal section of the parts shown in Fig. 7 and Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12, views showing modified forms of construction.

The seal comprises companion sections 13 and 14, each of like size and configuration and formed preferably of earthenware material. Each of the sections has a chamber 15 formed in the interior thereof, and, as shown in the constructionset forth in Figs. 3 to 8 inclusive, the walls 16 of said chamber are formed on curves, the arcsof which extend in opposite directions to one another. The chamber, as shown, is of an oval shape, with its outer contracted ends 17 forming a mouth or opening and its inner contracting end merging into a recess or pocket 19, which is approximately of the same depth as the depth of the chamber, and is in fact a portion of the chamber 15. 'Ihe inner ends 19a of the walls 16 of the chamber are partially cut away to produce companion protuberances or ledges 20.

The sections 13 and 14 are each provided with a protuberance 21, which lies adjacent to the mouth of the chamber 15 and extends thereinto; and said protuberance, as shown in Figs. 3 to 8, is of a tapered formation to provide faces 21a, which extend parallel to the walls 16 of the chamber 15 and are spaced apart therefrom a suflicient distance to permit of the insertion therebetween of the headed end of a wire. The protuberance 21 and the protuberance or ledge 20 cooperate with the walls 16 of the chamber 15 to form a channel 22, which guides the passage of the headed end 23 of a wire 24 during the insertion of such headed end into the interior of the seal.

As will be seen by referring more particularly to Figs. 5 and 7, when the headed end of the wire is inserted within the mouth 15, it is deiected by the faces 21EL of the pro- Y tuberance 21 and travels within the curved recess between said face and the wall 16, thus curving the body portion of the wire. When the headed end strikes that portion of the wall 16 which has been partially cut away to form the ledge or protuberance 20, it will be deflected back toward the center of the seal by the curve of said wall, as shown in Fig. 5; and when the headed end has passed by the protuberance or ledge 9.0, to permit it to enter the pocket or recess 19, it will be sprung into the position shown in Fig. 7, by reason of the resiliency which has been generated in said wire by the curving of the body portion during the insertion Y tion shown in Fig. 7, and the headed end will lie in the pocket or recess 19 and behind the protuberance, and thus the wire will be held in a manner to prevent its retraction receive one end of the headed wire, the other end being embedded within the material of the seal body.

VThe principle of operation is the same in from the interior of the body of the seal byi Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 as that described in a direct pull outward; and in order to retract the wire from its locked position it will be necessary to spring the headed end toward the center of the seal body and clear of the protuberance or ledge 20, and this will be impossible because the wire will be bent xaround the protuberance 21 and locked against movement, holding the body of the wire out of direct alinement with the headed end by its contact with the wall of the mouth 15 and the wall of the protuberance 21, so that any movement of the wire tending to swing the headed end in would be checked.

The wireinay be provided, if desired, with an enlarged portion 23a, which, when the head is fully inserted, lies within or adjacent to the mouth 15 of the chamber and prevents the insertion of any tool thereinto to move the headed end of the wire out from its position behind the ledge or protuberance 20, and also prevents the wire from being cut outside of the seal and the cut end afterward inserted into the seal in a manner to escape easy detection. Thus, when each headed end of the wire is inserted in position as shown in Fig. 7, displacement of the seal from the object through which the loop portion has been passed will be impossible without a cutting of the wire or a breaking of the seal body,

, both of which operations would cause the seal to have the appearance of being tainpered with, so that the person inspecting the seals of the car would recognize that fact.

The sections 13 and 14 are formed with v notches or grooves 25, which weaken the sections at one point, so that a blow thereon will break them and permit the wire to be withdrawn from its locked position. As will be seen more clearly in Figs. 5 and 7, if the seal is broken along the line of the grooves Y sitely disposed channels 26; and in Fig. 10 is shown a construction in which a single channel 27 is employed, into which both ends of the wire are inserted. In Fig. 11 is shown a modied construction, in which oppositely g disposed channels 28 are employed, permitting the ends of the wire to be inserted from opposite sides of the seal body; and in Fig. 12 is shown a single channel 29 adapted to connection with the forms shown in Figs. 3 to 8 inclusive, and a detailed description thereof is not deemed necessary.

The method of using the seal is as follows: One headed end of the'wire is inserted in position in the manner described above, the free end of the wire is then inserted through the staple of the lock andthe wire bent back on itself to form a loop. The other headed end is then inserted, as shown in Fig. 7. Both free ends of the wire will then be anchored within the interior of the seal, and removal of the seal from the lock rendered impossible, except by a cutting of the wire or a breaking of the seal body.

I claim:

1. A. car seal, comprising a body portion having a channel therein adapted to permit of the insertion therethrough of the headed end of a wire, a headed wire, the wall of the channel being partially cut away adjacent to the terminus thereof to provide a ledge, said wall being wholly cut away at the terminus thereof to provide a pocket, the inner edge of the ledge forming the outer wall of the pocket, the headed end of the wire, when fully inserted, lying within said pocket, the body portion of the wire extending across andiabove said ledge, said ledge forming a protuberance in said channel whereby, after the headed end of the wire has been entered into the pocket, movement ofthe wire to withdraw said headed end from said pocket is prevented, substantially as described.A

2. A car seal comprising a body portion having a chamber formed therein, provided with oppositely curving walls, a headed wire, a protuberance adjacent the outer end' of said chamber, the walls of said protuberance being formed to correspond with the walls of said chamber, whereby companion, oppositely disposed channels are provided, and adapted to receive the headed end of a wire, the walls of the channel being on a curve extending from the center in either direction toward the center of the sealed body and serving to place a tension on the wire during the insertion therethrough, the

walls of said chamber adjacent the inner end 3. A car seal comprising a body portion having a channel therein adapted to permit of the insertion therethrough of the headed end of a wire, a headed Wire, the wall of the channel being partially cut away adjacent the terminus thereof to provide a ledge, said Wall being wholly cut away at the terminus thereof to provide a pocket adapted to receive'the headed end o the wire, the inner wall of the ledge forming the outer wall of the pocket, the headed end of the wire lying when fully inserted within said pocket, the body portion of the wire extending across and above the surface of the ledge the walls of said channel being in the form of a curve whereby the wire is placed under a tension during its insertion through said channels.

4. A car seal comprising a body portion havingcompanion channels of similar formation oppositely disposed from one another, each adapted to permit of the insertion therethrough of the headed end of a wire, a headed wire, the wall of the channel being partially cut away adjacent the terminus thereof to provide a ledge, said wall being wholly cut away at the terminus thereof to provide a pocket adapted to receive the headed end of the wire, the inner edge of the ledge forming the outer wall of the pocket, the headed end of the wire lying when fully inserted within said pocket, the body portion of the wire extending across and above the surface of the ledge, said channels each being in the form of a curve whereby the wire is placed under a tension during its insertion therethrough, substantially as described.

5. A car seal comprising a body portion having a channel therein, a wirehaving a headed end adapted to be inserted through the channel, a protuberance extending into the channel intermediate the ends of the channel, and of less height than the depth of the channel, a pocket to the rear of the protuberance and forming the terminus of the channel, the headed end of the wire lying within said pocket and behind said protuberanee when fully inserted in said body portion, the body portion of the wire extending across and above said protuberance, substantially as described.

ARTHUR L. STANFORD.

Witnesses:

MARY R. FROST, SAMUEL W. BANNING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

